Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut landing June 26

When gamers first played through Mass Effect 3, they anxiously awaited what they foresaw would be the grandest story, epically-charged action, and subsequent climax of their gaming careers. What they got instead was a disappointing, metaphorical heaping pile of sh*t. I myself ripped the ending as well as the theories that surrounded it, and to this day I remain adamant in the belief that the ending of Mass Effect 3 stands as one of the worst ever in gaming, particularly when you consider that it was concluding an entire trilogy.

BioWare then announced that they’d be releasing an “Extended Cut” to the game’s conclusion, and I got prepared to happily eat my words. They then stated that the DLC would actually not change anything, bringing us all right back to a puzzling square one. But thankfully the anticipation of what the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut holds does not have to irk us for much longer, as BioWare announced today that it will be released this Tuesday, June 26 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

It’s worth noting a prior BioWare statement that ensured furious gamers they wouldn’t be getting the ME3 ending they dreamed of. Instead, the Extended Cut will simply expand upon the existing ending:

“The Extended Cut is an expansion of the original endings to Mass Effect 3. It does not fundamentally change the endings, but rather it expands on the meaning of the original endings, and reveals greater detail on the impact of player decisions.”

The statement continues with:

“The Extended Cut expands on the endings of Mass Effect 3 through additional scenes and epilogue sequences. It provides more of the answers and closure that players have been asking for. It gives a sense of what the future holds as a result of the decisions made throughout the series. And it shows greater detail in the successes or failures based on how players achieved their endings.”

The glass half-full fan would take the above segment and blissfully run with it. Answers and closure the players have been asking for? A sense of what the future holds as a result of the decisions made throughout the series, you say? Shows greater detail in the successes or failures based on how players achieved their endings? At last! BioWare is rewarding players for their cash and in-game hours over the span of three games! Wishful thinking? Probably. But we can take solace in the fact that the DLC is a hefty 1.9 gigabytes, so this isn’t just a few dialogue sequences we’re talking about.

Note to all players who angrily deleted their games on impulse upon seeing the Mass Effect 3 ending: you do need a saved game from the point of the Cerberus Base attack.

“To experience the Extended Cut, load a save game from before the attack on the Cerberus Base and play through to the end of the game. The Extended Cut endings will differ depending on choices made throughout the Mass Effect series, so multiple playthroughs with a variety of different decisions will be required to experience the variety of possibilities offered by the new content.”